Kagetsu

Sendai Girls' Kagetu (or Kagetsu) was born Yukari Ishino on June 24th, 1992 in Settsu, Osaka, Japan.
She made her pro wrestling debut against Chikayo Nagashima on August 24th, 2008.
Kagetsu wrestled under her real name until January 2010, when she switched to Kagetsu.
She has worked for Japanese wrestling promotions like JWP, WAVE, NEO and Sendai Girls.

So far Kagetsu has held the JWP Jr. Championship and the POP Championship.

Kagetsu vs Kana

masu-me - Japanese Women Wrestling

masu-me (or Masumi Arakawa) was born on July 9th, 1988 in Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan.
She started her wrestling training in September of 2010 (which is kinda late for Joshi) and made her in-ring debut on December 23rd, 2010 in Korakuen Hall at JWP Climax 2010 against KAZUKI.
masu-me is also a singer, which harkens back to the old days of Joshi with the "singer/wrestlers".



She has released at least one single and a photobook.
(Her single was released the same day she made her wrestling debut)
masu-me is five foot one and weighs 95 pounds.
In JWP, she has formed a tag-team with Tsukasa Fujimoto called Kyutipea.

JWP Spot with Kaori Yoneyama and masu-me



(actually there are a ton of interview videos on YouTube with her)

Sakura Emi - Emi Sakura

This is Japanese female wrestler Sakura Emi (or Emi Sakura, take your pick)
Emi was born on October 4th, 1976 in Kimitsu, Chiba, Japan.
She started out wrestling under her own name (Emi Motokawa) for wrestling promotions like the International Wrestling Association of Japan and Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling.



Emi went on to wrestle as a freelancer for promotions like Gatokunyan (GTKN) and NEO.
Notably though, she is the founder of the all women's wrestling promotion, Ice Ribbon.
This five foot two, 154 pound wrestler has held a ton of titles so far in her career including the AJW Singles Championship, the AWF Women’s Championship, the NEO Singles and NWA Women’s Pacific Championship, the NEO Tag Team Championship (once with Kyoko Kimura), the JWP Tag Team Championship, the Daily Sports Tag Team Champion (once with Kaori Yoneyama), the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship (twice), the ICEx60 Singles Championship (twice) and the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship (three times, once with Kaori Yoneyama, once with Nanae Takahashi and once with Ray)

Emi Sakura Vs Kana

Japanese Women Wrestling on YouTube

It's been a while since I have done anything on the Japanese women wrestling videos on YouTube, so here are some I have run across that have been uploaded recently.

First up we have a match with Fuuka taking on Yuri Urai.
This video was uploaded by xkingx2009.
Fuuka was one of the last wrestlers trained in Jaguar Yokota's JDStar promotion and Yuri Urai also wrestled for the JD Star promotion.
The video is a bit "choppy" but still worth a look.



Next up we have a video posted by lablue6uy of Etsuko Mita facing Emi Sakura facing Makoto.
Not the best joshi match in the world, but since YouTube is the only place I can see these, I'm not complaining.
Back in 1987, Mima Shimoda made her wrestling debut against Etsuko Mita and Etsuko has since retired.
Emi Sakura went on to found the Ice Ribbon wrestling promotion.
The last I heard, Makoto was working for Ice Ribbon.



And finally we have Misaki Ohata wrestling LEON, posted by ElfenLiedPictureSh0w.
If you are lucky enough, you may have caught Misaki here in the states working for Shimmer.
Tojuki Leon (Rena Takase) has been wrestling since 2000.
Probably the best match out of all three, but with kind of a weird ending.

World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana

This month, there will be a new womens wrestling promotion in Japan called Diana or World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana.
The promotion is being run by NEO founder and 23 year Joshi veteran Kyoko Inoue.

The roster for Diana includes....
Kyoko Inoue
Kaoru Ito
Ayako Sato
Keiko Aono
Nagisa Nozaki
Aya Yuki
Sareee

The first card will be held on March 21st, and it will feature....
Ayako Sato vs Aya Yuki
Keiko Aono vs Mariko Yoshida
Nagisa Nozaki vs Aja Kong
Sareee vs Akira Kinuko
And a tag team match with Kyoko Inoue and Aya Yuki taking on Kaoru Ito and Ayako Sato.

So far they have events scheduled for March, April, May and June.

Here is a promo video for the promotion...



You can check out their website here:
http://www-diana.com/

Tsubasa Kuragaki - Japanese Women Wrestling

This is female Japanese wrestler Tsubasa Kuragaki.
Although I have mentioned her before, I haven't really done anything on her.



Tsubasa was born on December 7th, 1975 in Chiba City, Kamagaya, Japan.
She's five foot three, 140 pounds and she made her pro wrestling debut either January 8th, 1995 or October 21st, 1998.
I've seen two different accounts.



She has wrestled almost exclusively for JWP (Japan Women Project), but she has also done some freelance work as well.
During her career so far, she has held the JWP Openweight Championship, the JWP Tag Team Championship (once with AKINO and twice with Kayoko Haruyama), the Daily Sports Tag Team Championship (twice with Kayoko Haruyama), the JWP Jr. Championship and the NEO Singles and NWA Women’s Pacific Championship.



Is it just me, or does it look like she uses the same tailor as Awesome Kong?

Here is Tsubasa wrestling Ran Yu-Yu for JWP on July 27th, 2008, posted on YouTube by kapengmabula (with credit to nagashimark)





Tsubasa Kuragaki - Japanese Women Wrestling, posted to http://joshipuroresu.blogspot.com/ on February 3rd, 2011

Misaki Ohata Wrestling Ayako Sato

Here is a match posted by nagashimark on YouTube, of Misaki Ohata taking on Ayako Sato.
This match was for the Sendai Girls wrestling promotion on April 20th, 2008.


Misaki Ohata has shown up a few times on this blog.
She was trained by the famous Mariko Yoshida and worked for many wrestling promotions in Japan like JDStar.
You can see her now in the US with Shimmer.


Ayako Sato has wrestled for JWP, NEO and if I'm not mistaken, has done some Olympic-style wrestling as well.

After the introductions, we jump right into the match where Ayako has Misaki trapped in a leg lock.

Misaki manages to slip out of that and trap Ayako in a figure four headscissors.

That doesn't last for long though as Ayako slips out of that hold and clamps on a double leg lock.

Which then then transitions into a bow and arrow.

Misaki escapes, but Ayako literally rocks her world with some devastating dropkicks and goes for a pin.
Unfortunately for Ayako, Misaki kicks out, then catches her in an arm bar.

You can see the whole match here...

If you like this, be sure to check out nagashimark's channel for more videos.


Misaki Ohata Wrestling Ayako Sato, posted to http://joshipuroresu.blogspot.com/ on December 3rd, 2011

Manami Toyota Wrestling Kyoko Inoue

Here is a match posted by the legendary DoubleMiz, of Manami Toyota taking on Kyoko Inoue from March 31st, 1996.
This is a really high quality video, and it's part 1 of 2.
You know...I know both Manami and Kyoko are highly skilled athletes, but when I saw Manami going to the ring at the beginning of the video, the only thing I could thing was "My God...her hair is beautiful!"

Anyway, both of these women are Joshi legends.

Manami made her pro wrestling debut in 1987...

and Kyoko debuted the next year in 1988.


This match is a sequel to Manami and Kyoko's match in 1995, which won the Wrestling Observer Match of the Year.

And this match takes off like a rocket with a missed dropkick, a giant swing and a kiwi roll all in rapid succession.

Coming up from that, they go into the classic test of strength...

Which leads into Kyoko unleashing an array of submission moves on Manami...







Here is part one of this amazing match...

To see part two, go to DoubleMiz's channel and check it out, and subscribe while you're there.



Manami Toyota Wrestling Kyoko Inoue, posted to http://joshipuroresu.blogspot.com/ on November 13th, 2010

Nagisa Nozaki Wrestling Shuri

This is a match posted on YouTube by ElfenLiedPictureSh0w of Nagisa Nozaki taking on Shuri at NEO Summer Stampede on August 1st, 2010.

Nagisa started wrestling when she was 15, and has been plagued by injuries.
This was Nagisa's return match, her first since 2009 when she injured her shoulder.
She's five foot five and weighs 123 pounds.

You may know her opponent Shuri as Karate Girl (KG) from the old HUSTLE wrestling promotion.
She wrestles, but throws some MMA into her matches as well.

First up. Shuri enters the ring...


Followed by Nagisa who doesn't look near as serious...

They shake hands and everything looks okay...

Till Nagisa blindsides Shuri and lays into her with a series of vicious chops...

She goes for a quick pin...

Shuri kicks out, but soon finds herself in a sleeper...

She gets up, but Nagisa follows her, keeping the hold clamped on.
See how much Nagisa seems to be enjoying herself?

Shuri gets fed up, escapes and lays into Nagisa with a series of roundhouse kicks...

Here is the match in full, VERY high quality...

If you like this match, check out ElfenLiedPictureSh0w's YouTube page and subscribe.




Nagisa Nozaki Wrestling Shuri, posted to http://joshipuroresu.blogspot.com/ on November 4th, 2010

Eight Woman Tag Team Match - Japanese Women Wrestling

Here is a eight woman tag team match posted by kapengmabula on YouTube.
It's Japanese women wrestlers Ayumi Kurihara, Mio Shirai, Io Shirai and Makoto taking on Mima Shimoda, Kyoko Kimura, Atsuko Emoto and Tomoka Nakagawa at a NEO event.

First we have a little video background leading up to the match, then Mima, Kyoko, Atsuko and Tomoka come to the ring already armed with folding chairs and chains.

Then Ayumi, Mio, Io and Makoto come in...unarmed.

The intros start but never finish as it immediately turns into what "Good Ole JR" would call a pier six brawl.

The action comes back into the ring and normalcy is restored for a moment and it looks like the match will go on like a normal contest.
But not for long...

Pretty soon everyone is back in the ring and going at it again.

Somewhat unusually.

Mima gets upset by a slow count....

...and finally a team turns on one of it's members.

You can see this video and more like it at kapengmabula's YouTube channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/kapengmabula

Eight Woman Tag Team Match - Japanese Women Wrestling, posted to http://joshipuroresu.blogspot.com/ on September 26th, 2010

Itsuki Yamazaki Vs.Yukari Omori

This is a video posted on YouTube by xkingx2009 of Itsuki Yamazaki wrestling Yukari Omori at an old All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling event.

Itsuki Yamazaki made her wrestling debut in 1980, and was one half of the famous Jumping Bomb Angels.
Yukari Omori was also part of a famous tag-team, the "Dynamite Girls".

This match is pretty much pure Joshi Puroresu.
No gimmicks, no over the top promotion, just two Japanese women in swimsuits (a Speedo swimsuit in Yukari's case) going at it in the ring.

After the intro, the ref going over the rules, the opening bell and a pretty quick series of moves, they lock up in the center of the ring...


Itsuki side-steps and rolls Yukari into a leg lock...


Then she moves up and puts her knee in Yukari's back, adding more pressure to the leg lock...


Another flurry of moves and Yukari winds up trapped in Itsuki's body scissors...


Yukari manages to escape, almost gets Itsuki in a boston crab, but gets rolled over into an attempted pin...


But Yukari escapes by trapping Itsuki in a head scissors...


Which Itsuki somehow manages to turn back into a modified leg lock.



And all this is less than four minutes into the match.



If you like this match, you can see more like it at xkingx2009's YouTube channel here.
http://www.youtube.com/user/xkingx2009



Itsuki Yamazaki Vs.Yukari Omori, posted to http://joshipuroresu.blogspot.com/ on September 20th, 2010.

Kana wrestling Chihiro Okawa

Yeah I know...two Kana wrestling matches in a row?
Well this one was posted by someone I just ran across on YouTube, xkingx2009, and it's a match between Kana and Chihiro Okawa.

It starts out with both women already in the ring, sparing us the lengthy walk to the ring and intros.
Kana is her usual confident self, but I swear Chihiro looks like she just woke up.

Chihiro holds out her hand to shake before the start, and Kana replies by crescent kicking it away.
Then they lock up in a flurry of punches that leads to Kana getting a take down, and the match turning into a MMA type brawl.

Chihiro gets on top, and forgets punching and just starts slapping away at Kana.
Then she goes for an arm bar, that turns into a body scissors until Kana starts slapping away at Chihiro and escapes.

They lock up again in the middle of the ring until Kana gets behind and suplexes Chihiro into the mat.
But Chihiro comes up with more slaps and a surprisingly effective roundhouse to Kana's face that puts her down.

Kana gets up and now the match turns more into a Muay Thai battle.
Kana works her into the corner and gives her some knees, then her own kick that almost lays Chihiro out.

They go back to the center of the ring, exchange some kicks, and Kana grabs Chihiro's leg and slaps on an ankle lock, taking Chihiro down to the mat.

Chihiro manages to escape and gets on top, but she really looks like she doesn't know what shes doing there for a minute, until she clamps a triangle choke on Kana.

She comes pretty close to choking Kana out before Kana finally reaches the ropes.

Kana gets up, there's another exchange and she gets Chihiro down and applies an arm bar.

Believe it or not, that is a little over half of the first part of a two part match.

You can see part one here:

And you can see part two at xkingx2009's channel here...
http://www.youtube.com/user/xkingx2009

Kana wrestling Chihiro Okawa, posted to http://joshipuroresu.blogspot.com/ on August 8th, 2010